Student Theatre Australia --Underground Productions--

There has been a student-run theatre company based in the Schonell and Cement Box theatres since at least the 1970’s. It has gone by many names including (but not limited to) Shotgun Theatre, the Amardean players (that’s ‘Drama’ spelled backwards), A.C.R.O.N.Y.M theatre and of course, Underground Productions. The one and only Geoffrey Rush performed in one of the first plays in the Cement Box, “Hamlet on Ice”, alongside other notable names Ken Kennett and Bille Brown. Underground Productions came to being in 1999. The first season included “Bulldog Front”, written and directed by Marcel Dorney and “The Cement Box One Act Play Festival”, which was the precursor to our beloved BUGfest, a popular tradition for the company since 2000. Over the years, Underground has produced more than forty shows, with tens of thousands of audience members’ bottoms gracing the Cement Box Theatre’s seats. Musical Theatre has been a regular part of our seasons for many years. In 2003, Cienda McNamara directed “Fool’s Journey”. From 2005-2007 our musicals were “processed” by the actors and creatives involved to produce the new and exciting musicals “The Bleach’d Bunny”, “The Tribes of Avalon” and “Hell and High Water”. In 2008, the highly successful “Scissors Paper Rock” was named best musical of 2008 by Eric Scott and sold out in its final week. Underground is also dedicated to encouraging emerging scriptwriters from within its own community. BUGfest is an annual short play festival comprised of works from local writers and is an opportunity for many of our members to act, direct or design. Also, Jeremy Wood’s “Not Fade Away” premiered last year at the Cement Box Theatre to much acclaim. We look forward to many more exciting possibilities in the company’s future. The Cement Box Theatre The Schonell Theatre